End grain cutting boards

I went down to my shop this morning with the intent of doing something totally different then what ended up happening. There is a show coming up so I need to make some inventory. I have been meaning to replace the cutter heads in my Delta 12.5” thickness planer but have procrastinated because I was under the impression it was difficult. Luckily the design on this unit is great and it didn’t take more than 15 mins. With that completed I had to test it and wow what a difference ! So change of plans it ended up being cutting board day!

Made from maple & walnut and a little oak edge on the larger one. I had glue these on as sacrificial pieces so I could run the final glue up the the thickness planer (end grain, doing this avoids the tear out). Its quarter saw oak and I liked the look so left them on. Small all maple is 13.5×10, the one without the oak edge is 15×12 and the larger 16.5×12, all 1.25 thick.

-- Rick --------The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but did you run the end grain boards through your planer? I was under the impression that was a no no…running end grain through a planer that is. Can you please let me know if thats what you did, and if so give me some advice on how I can use my Dewalt planer in the same fashion.

Hi Rayman24, I initially thought the same thing but after some reading I learned the secret to running end grain through the planer is to glue on sacrificial pieces on the 2 ends – without that, you’ll certainly have a fair amount of tear-out. Once done planning remove the sac pieces at the table saw. I also take light cuts, not too much at a time, sharp planer knives is also helpful. If you look at pic #2, I had added 2 pieces of oak (not end grain) and after planning, decided I liked the look and left them on. I have a Delta 12.5” 2 knife planer, nothing fancy.

Way better than sanding !!!

-- Rick --------The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.

Probably saved you hours of sanding. That is good news! I have been gearing up to make about 5 cutting boards using maple, black walnut, and a hint of mahogany and am looking for new ways to keep from having to do several hours of sanding.